Noah Williams subbed in for the Huskies and was greeted by a student section whose boos and jeers kept him aware of how they felt about his transferring to Wazzu’s biggest rival. This was the loudest it has been all year in Beasley, but that is to be expected during the Apple Cup.

Roughly this time a year ago, Williams was playing in this very matchup but for the Cougs.

WSU men’s basketball (11–15, 6–9 Pac-12) beat UW (13–13, 5–10 Pac-12) 56-51 in the Apple Cup Saturday.

Four minutes of some of the best defense a team could possibly play started this game and UW was scoreless with 14 minutes left in the half. Unfortunately, the Cougs only managed 8 points in that span, but the defense was looking so good that the less-than-perfect offense did not seem to be a worry.

Huskies guard Jamal Bey hit a three to put them on the board and end the scoring drought.

Even worse, a quick turnover for the Cougs sent UW back on offense. Howling to the rim was Keion Brooks Jr., but he was too fast and committed an offensive foul that gave it right back.

Unfortunately for him, this led to TJ Bamba putting the Cougs in double digits. After this play, Brooks Jr. sat on the bench having gathered two fouls.

Strong defense by both sides meant that the half went on like this for a while, with UW pulling into a 1-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. Keeping the offense steady a minute later was Mouhamed Gueye who hit a smooth jumper to pull back into the lead. A Husky turnover sent the ball into transition for the Cougs and Mullins tossed it to Gueye who put in it and got the foul.

“Just run and dunk it,” Gueye said post-game about his thought process on that play. “Thankfully I did.”

Even after the tough stretch that let UW pull ahead the Cougs had managed to retake the lead. Scoring for WSU seemed to be coming exclusively on highlight plays while UW was managing and-1 after and-1.

With just over a minute remaining, Gueye hit a three to put the lead at 8. Justin Powell followed that with a three of his own to make the lead 11 and at the end of the half the Cougs led by 9.

At half, Bamba already had 13 and Gueye was flirting with a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Center Braxton Meah led the Huskies in scoring with 7 points and three rebounds.

Neither team started the second half hot. The Cougs did the first damage with Andrej Jakimovski’s three to make the lead 12.

Williams made consecutive shots to cut the lead to 7. Unfortunately for Wazzu, the booing seemed to have little effect on him.

Williams excelled under the brightest and most critical lights and the lead got as small as 2 at one point. It was starting to feel like every make for the Cougs was immediately followed by a make for the Huskies.

“Noah really played within himself, played with the team. I was happy for him,” Smith said in his postgame press conference. “Glad we won.”

Despite the scares, the WSU offense kept moving, while on defense they were seemingly managing to create turnovers anytime the ball was passed across the key. Jabe Mullins hit a pair of threes with under nine minutes left and the Cougs led again by ten.

It was messy, but the lead stayed between 6 —10 for a while. With 3:44 left in the game the Cougs led by 7. A series of fouls got that lead down to two but with 1:24 left in the game the Cougs led by four again.

A tipped Keyon Menifield shot was grabbed by Jakimovski and the Cougs kept possession and called a timeout with 1:05 left. Bamba missed a near-buzzer beating shot after the inbounds but Gueye came down with the ball and made a layup to make the lead 6.

The last minute was composed mostly of the Huskies fouling Coug players to try and get the ball. A series of Bamba free throws sealed the game as he finished with 20 points.

Bamba led all scorers with 20 points and seven boards. Gueye had yet another double-double with 17 and 15. Williams led UW with 12 and was one of only three Huskies that went positive in + / -.

This was an absolute slugfest and while the Cougs led for the vast majority of the game it did not feel put away until the final buzzer.

As that final buzzer sounded, the stadium exploded. Victory in Pullman is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when it comes against such an opponent as the Huskies.

While the Apple Cup is not over, the Cougs took their half of it. Soon it will be time to go to Seattle and face this team again, but today all that matters is the victory.

Before that, though, they have to win their next games. Coming up next is Oregon State at 8 p.m. Thursday in Beasley Coliseum. Fans can watch on ESPNU.